This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Readings

Texts

Johnston, John. Econometric Methods. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1971. ISBN: 0070326797.

McCloskey, Donald N. The Writing of Economics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1986. ISBN: 0023795204.

Neugeboren, Robert H. Students Guide to Writing Economics. New York, NY: Routledge, 2005. ISBN: 0415701228.

Pindyck, Robert S., and Daniel L. Rubinfeld. Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1997. ISBN: 0070502080.

Strunk, William Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Boston, MA: Longman, 1999. ISBN: 020530902X.

Buy at MIT Press Thomson, William. A Guide for the Young Economist. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001. ISBN: 0262700794.

Readings by Weekly Session

Note: * indicates that you should read the paper on your own prior to class.

WEEK # TOPICS READINGS
1 Course Introduction

Lecture

Causation and Randomized Experiments
Ashenfelter, Orley. "The Case for Evaluating Training Programs with Randomized Trials." Economics of Education Review 6, no. 4 (1987): 333-8.

* Cook, R. Dennis. "Smoking and Lung Cancer." In R. A. Fisher: An Appreciation. Edited by S. Fienberg, and D. Hinkley. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 1980, pp. 182-191. ISBN: 354090476X.

Cook, Thomas D., and Donald T. Campbell. "Causal Inference and the Language of Experimentation." Chapter 1 in Quasi-Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1979, pp. 1-36. ISBN: 0395307902.

*Freedman, David A. "Statistical Models and Shoe Leather." Sociological Methodology 21 (1991): 291-313.

*Holland, Paul W. "Statistics and Causal Inference." Journal of the American Statistical Association 81 (December 1986): 945-960.

*Woodbury, Stephen A., and Robert G. Spiegelman. "Bonuses to Workers and Employers to Reduce Unemployment: Randomized Trials in Illinois." American Economic Review 77, no. 4 (1987): 513-530.
2 STATA Review  
3 Lecture and Discussion

Elements of a Good Economics Paper

Assembly of Research Teams
Handout of "Guidelines for Writing an Empirical Paper."

*Chay, Kenneth, and Michael Greenstone. "Air Quality, Infant Mortality and the Clean Air Act of 1970." NBER Working Paper #10053, 2003.
4 Workshop

Oral Presentation of Paper Ideas by Research Teams

Class Discussion
Student preliminary papers.
5 Workshop

Oral Presentation of Paper Ideas by Research Teams

Class Discussion (cont.)
Student preliminary papers.
6 Workshop

Oral Presentation of Research Plans by Research Teams

Class Discussion (cont.)
Student preliminary papers.
7 Workshop

Oral Presentation of Research Plans by Research Teams

Class Discussion (cont.)
Student preliminary papers.
8 Workshop

Project Discussion and Questions
Student preliminary papers.
9 Workshop

Project Discussion and Questions (cont.)
Student preliminary papers.
10 Workshop

First Draft Paper Feedback
Student preliminary papers.
11 Workshop

First Draft Paper Feedback (cont.)
Student preliminary papers.
12 Workshop

Paper Rewrites
Student preliminary papers.
13 Last Class Student preliminary papers.